Apparatus, systems and methods for configuring a mosaic of video tiles

Abstract

Media device systems and methods are operable to generate mosaic video formats that are each configured to generate corresponding mosaic videos that present video content in video tiles. An exemplary embodiment receives a selection of one of a plurality of mosaic video templates, receives a specification of a video mosaic name, and generates a mosaic video format. The generated mosaic video format is identified by the specified video mosaic name, and comprises the video tile location information and video size information for each of the video tiles defined by the selected mosaic video template.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of that presents video content of a plurality of media content events accessed by a media device in a corresponding plurality of video tiles that are concurrently presentable on a display, the method comprising:
 receiving a user selection of one of a plurality of predefined video mosaic names,
 wherein each of the predefined video mosaic names are associated with one of a plurality of predefined mosaic video presentation formats selected by a user of the media device, and 
 wherein each one of the predefined mosaic video presentation formats is defined by at least two video tiles, 
 
 in response to receiving the user selection, retrieving information from a memory that is associated with the mosaic video presentation format that corresponds to the selected predefined video mosaic name, wherein the retrieved information comprises:
 video tile information for each of the plurality of video tiles used by the predefined mosaic video presentation format associated with the user selected video mosaic name, wherein the video tile information defines a presentation location of each video tile on the display and a presentation size of each video tile on the display; and 
 
 presenting one of the plurality of media content events in each one of the plurality of video tiles that are concurrently presented on the display in accordance with the retrieved information of the predefined video mosaic presentation format, 
 wherein a video portion of each one of the plurality of video tiles is presented based on the corresponding video tile information of that video tile. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the retrieved information of at least a first video tile of the plurality of video tiles comprises channel information, the method further comprising:
 accessing a media content stream that is broadcasting a first media content event on a channel that is received by the media device, wherein the media content stream is identified by the channel information, 
 wherein the first video tile presents a video portion of the first media content event that is being broadcast to a plurality of media devices. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the retrieved information of at least a first video tile of the plurality of video tiles comprises information that identifies a first media content event that has been recorded by the media device, the method further comprising:
 accessing the recorded first media content event, 
 wherein the first video tile presents a video portion of the first media content event that has been recorded by the media device. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selected video mosaic name is associated with a genre, the method further comprising:
 accessing genre information associated with the genre, wherein the genre information identifies a predefined plurality of channels that are known to present media content events associated with the genre; 
 accessing a currently broadcasting media content event that is on each of the predefined plurality of channels identified in the genre information; and 
 presenting the accessed currently broadcasting media content event, wherein each one of the currently broadcasting media content events are presented in one of the plurality of video tiles. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selected video mosaic name is associated with a genre, the method further comprising:
 accessing genre information associated with the genre, wherein the genre information identifies a predefined plurality of channels that are known to present media content events associated with the genre; 
 accessing a currently broadcasting media content event that is on each of the predefined plurality of channels identified in the genre information; 
 determining whether the accessed currently broadcasting media content event pertains to the associated genre; and 
 presenting the accessed currently broadcasting media content event only when the currently broadcasting media content event pertains to the associated genre, wherein each one of the currently broadcasting media content events pertaining to the associated genre are presented in one of the plurality of video tiles. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selected video mosaic name is associated with a genre, the method further comprising:
 accessing genre information associated with the genre, wherein the genre information contains genre description information that describes the genre; 
 accessing electronic program guide (EPG) information, wherein the EPG information includes scheduled program information identifying at least a scheduled broadcast start time, includes a channel identifier for each of a plurality of unique media content events that identifies a channel that will be providing the corresponding media content event, and includes program description information that describes the corresponding media content event; 
 comparing the genre description information with the program description information of the plurality of media content events currently broadcasting to the media device as indicated in the accessed EPG information; and 
 identifying a first plurality of media content events with program description information that corresponds to the genre description information; 
 selecting a second plurality of media content events from the identified first plurality of media content events; and 
 presenting the second plurality of media content events, wherein each one of the selected second plurality of media content events is presented in one of the plurality of video tiles. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein if a number of the second plurality of media content events is greater than a number of the plurality of video tiles, the method further comprising:
 accessing at least one user preference that describes a preference of the user pertaining to the genre, wherein the user preference is included in the genre information; and 
 selecting a third plurality of media content events from the identified second plurality of media content events, wherein a number of the third plurality of media content events equals a number of the plurality of video tiles; and 
 presenting the second plurality of media content events, wherein each one of the selected second plurality of media content events is presented in one of the plurality of video tiles. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection is a first user selection, the method further comprising:
 receiving a second user selection while the plurality of video tiles are being presented on the display, wherein the user selection focuses on one of the plurality of video tiles; and 
 presenting an audio portion of the media content that is being presented in the focused video tile while audio portions of the other plurality of video tiles are not presented in response to receiving the second use selection. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 presenting a closed captioning stream corresponding to the audio portion of the media content that is being presented in the plurality of video tiles that are not focused on. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection is a first user selection, and wherein one of the plurality of video tiles is a focused video tile, the method further comprising:
 receiving a second user selection after the first user selection; 
 enlarging the focused video tile to an enlarged size video in response to the second user selection such that the media content event of the focused video tile is presented in the enlarged size video tile; 
 receiving a third user selection after the second user selection; and 
 ending presentation of the enlarged size video tile and returning to presentation of the plurality of video tiles in response to receiving the third use selection. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection is a first user selection, wherein one of the plurality of video tiles is a focused video tile, and wherein an audio portion of the focused video tile is presented while audio portions of the other plurality of video tiles are not presented, the method further comprising:
 receiving a second user selection after the first user selection, wherein the second user selection selects a different one of the plurality of video tiles to be a new focused video tile; and 
 presenting, in response to the second user selection, an audio portion of the new focused video tile while audio portions of the other plurality of video tiles are not presented. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection is a first user selection, and wherein one of the plurality of video tiles is a focused video tile, the method further comprising:
 receiving a second user selection after the first user selection; and 
 recording the media content event of the focused video tile in response to the second user selection. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection is a first user selection, the method further comprising:
 receiving a second user selection after the first user selection, 
 wherein the second user selection is a drag and drop operation based on user selection of one of a side or a corner of a selected one of the plurality of video tiles, and 
 wherein after a conclusion of the drag and drop operation, a size of the selected video tile is adjusted. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection is a first user selection, and wherein one of the plurality of video tiles is a focused video tile, the method further comprising:
 receiving a second user selection after the first user selection, 
 wherein the second user selection is a drag and drop operation based on user selection of a selected one of the plurality of video tiles, and 
 wherein after a conclusion of the drag and drop operation, a location of the selected video tile is adjusted. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection is a first user selection, and wherein during presentation of the plurality of video tiles, the method further comprising:
 receiving a notification that a media content event of interest that has been previously scheduled for recording at the media device is beginning to be broadcast to the media device; 
 receiving a second user selection after the first user selection to present the media content event of interest that is schedule for recording; and 
 replacing the media content event being presented in a selected one of the plurality of video tiles with the media content event of interest that is schedule for recording in response to the second user selection. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 1 , wherein prior to presenting the plurality of video tiles on the display, the method further comprising:
 presenting an electronic program guide (EPG) to the user, wherein the EPG presents scheduled program information identifying at least a scheduled broadcast start time and a channel identifier for each of a plurality of unique media content events, wherein the scheduled broadcast start time identifies a broadcast time that the corresponding media content event is to be broadcast to the media device, and wherein each channel identifier identifies a channel that will be providing the corresponding media content event; 
 receiving a user selection of a media content event via the presented EPG that is scheduled for a future broadcast; 
 defining a video tile timer that identifies the future scheduled broadcast start time and the channel identifier of the selected media content event; 
 monitoring real time during presentation of the plurality of video tiles on the display; and 
 replacing presentation of the media content event currently being presented in a selected one of the plurality of video tiles with the selected media content event when the monitored real time reaches the scheduled broadcast start time of the selected media content event. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selection of one of the plurality of video mosaic names is received prior to presenting the plurality of video tiles on the display, the method further comprising:
 defining a video tile timer that identifies a future time that the plurality of video tiles are to be presented; 
 monitoring real time during presentation of media content on the display; and 
 replacing presentation of the media content event currently being presented on the display with the plurality of video tiles when the monitored real time reaches the future time identified in the video tile timer. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user selected video mosaic name includes a day and a time of day, the method further comprising:
 monitoring real time during presentation of media content on the display; and 
 replacing presentation of the media content event currently being presented on the display with the plurality of video tiles when the monitored real time reaches the day and the time of day of the video mosaic name. 
 
     
     
       19. A method of generating mosaic video formats that are each configured to generate corresponding mosaic videos that present video content in video tiles, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a media device, a first user input that corresponds to a user request, wherein the user request is to initiate definition of a mosaic video format that is configured to present one of a plurality of media content events in one of a plurality of video tiles that are concurrently presented on a display to a user; 
 presenting a plurality of miniaturized graphical template representations on the display,
 wherein each one of the of the plurality of miniaturized graphical template representations correspond to one of the plurality of mosaic video templates, and 
 wherein each miniaturized graphical template representation is an image that graphically indicates a relative size and a relative location of each of the plurality of video tiles defined by its associated mosaic video template; 
 
 receiving a second user input that corresponds to a user selection of one of the presented miniaturized graphical template representations, wherein the selected miniaturized mosaic video template representation corresponds to a selection of the associated mosaic video template; 
 generating the mosaic video format based on the mosaic video template, wherein the mosaic video format comprises video tile size information and video tile location information that is used to define a size and a location for each of the video tiles that are concurrently presented to the user; and 
 storing information corresponding to the generated mosaic video format. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 receiving a third user input that corresponds to a user specification of a video mosaic name; and 
 associating the video mosaic name with the generated mosaic video format, 
 wherein the stored information corresponding to the generated mosaic video format is identified by the video mosaic name.